Toby Keith Biography

Toby Keith, country singer

Birthdate: July 8, 1961

Birthplace: Clinton, Oklahoma

Sign: Cancer

Toby Keith is a country music singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his hits "Should've Been a Cowboy," "Beer for My Horses" and "How Do You Like Me Now?!", Keith has released ten studio albums, two Christmas albums, and multiple compilation albums.

While Keith had already released four studio albums, it was his 1999 hit song "How Do You Like Me Now?!" that became his breakthrough song that introduced most of the world to Keith. The song, which came from an album of the same name, was the No. 1 country song of 2000 and released under the Dreamworks label.

His next three albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shock'n Y'all, produced three more No. 1's each, and all of the albums were certified multi-platinum.

When Dreamworks closed in 2005, Keith founded his own label, Show Dog Nashville. In addition to releasing his next two studio albums (2006's White Trash with Money and 2007's Big Dog Daddy, as well as the 2008 compilation 35 Biggest Hits), Keith has signed several other acts to the label, including Carter's Chord, Flynnville Train and Mica Roberts. Keith also made his acting debut in 2005, starring in the film "Broken Bridges." A second film, "Beer for My Horses" followed in 2008.

Keith was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, on July 8, 1961, but his family moved to Moore, Oklahoma when he was young. Keith's grandmother owned a supper club and Keith became interested in the musicians who came there to play. With his interest in music sparked, he got his first guitar at the age of eight.

Keith graduated from Moore High School and, in 1979, went to work as a derrick hand in the booming oil fields of Oklahoma. He worked his way up to become an operation manager. At the age of 20, he formed the Easy Money band where he and his friends Scott Webb and Danny Smith, and a few other members, played at local bars as he continued to work in the oil industry.

In 1982, the oil industry in Oklahoma began a rapid decline and Keith soon found himself unemployed. He fell back on his football training and played defensive end with the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers while continuing to perform with his band. While his family and friends were doubtful he would succeed in music, Keith gave up football, and in 1984 Easy Money began playing the honky tonk circuit in Oklahoma and Texas. The band cut a single titled "Blue Moon" and the song received some airplay on local radio stations in Oklahoma.

In 1993, Keith went to Nashville, where he hung out on Music Row. He distributed copies of a demo tape the band had made to the many record companies in the city, but had no luck. Fortunately for Keith, a flight attendant and fan of his gave a copy of Keith's demo tape to Harold Shedd, a Mercury Records executive, while he was traveling on a flight she was working. Shedd enjoyed what he heard, went to see Keith perform live and then signed him to a recording contract with Mercury. His debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy" (1993), went to No. 1 on the Billboard country singles chart, and his self-titled debut album was certified platinum.

On March 24, 2001, Keith's father, H.K. Covel, was killed in a car accident. That event, along with the September 11, 2001 attacks, prompted Keith to write the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue," a song about his father's patriotism and faith in the United States. While Keith didn't record the song at first, he did perform it live at his concerts for military personnel. The reaction was so strong that the Commandant of the Marine Corps told Keith it was his "duty as an American citizen" to record the song. Keith did, and the song became the lead single from the album Unleashed (2002).

Keith had a well publicized feud with the country group the Dixie Chicks over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue," as well as over comments they made about President George W. Bush on stage during a concert in London. The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant."

While Keith responded by belittling Maines' songwriting skills, and by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, he also publicly declared he was done feuding with Maines in August of 2003, saying he realized there are far more important things to concentrate on.

Keith considers himself "a conservative Democrat who is sometimes embarrassed for his party." He actively performs for USO troops all around the world. In a January 2007 interview with Newsday, Keith was asked whether or not he supported the Iraq War. He responded with "Never did." He also said, "I don't apologize for being patriotic... If there is something socially incorrect about being patriotic and supporting your troops, then they can kiss my ass on that, because I'm not going to budge on that at all. And that has nothing to do with politics. Politics is what's killing America."

In 1984, Keith married his wife, Tricia. He is the father of three children; Shelley (born 1980), Krystal (born 1985), and Stelen (born 1997). An avid University of Oklahoma football fan, Keith is often seen at Oklahoma Sooners games and practices.